hardship

He was “Mr. Entertainment,” a show-business meteor who blazed across the twentieth century. Sammy Davis, Jr. had the kind of career that was indisputably legendary, so vast and multi-faceted that it was dizzying in its scope and scale. Yet, his life was complex, complicated, and contradictory. Sammy Davis, Jr.: I’ve Gotta Be Me explores Davis’ journey to create his own identity – as a black man who embraced Judaism – through the shifting tides of civil rights and racial progress. A veteran of increasingly outdated show business traditions, Davis strove to stay relevant, even as he found himself bracketed by the bigotry of white America and the distaste of black America.

Explore the thrilling story of the American rowing team that triumphed at the 1936 Olympics in Nazi Germany. Inspired by #1 best-seller The Boys in the Boat, the film follows the underdog team that took the nation by storm when they captured gold.

This fictional story is set in the stark volcanic landscape of one of the most remote communities on Hawai‘i Island – Hawaiian Ocean View Estates. Jonithen Jackson portrays Jacob, a Marshallese immigrant father and grandfather, who struggles to provide for his large family. When Jacob overhears a cancer diagnosis from his doctor he keeps the news to himself, forgoing treatment in favor of working to pay off his property which he plans to pass down once he’s gone. Sensing his end, Jacob turns a small video camera on himself and begins to record his story – and that of his people, the Marshallese. The film is a contemplative look at a community in Hawaii still struggling to recover from the effects of the nuclear age. It is a profoundly realistic portrayal of one man’s unwillingness to let go of his dignity and the hope he has for his family’s future.

View intimate portraits of America’s military families, with unprecedented access to soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen and women. More than two million men and women serve in America’s all-volunteer military force, and another three million are their husbands, wives, sons and daughters. Yet over the course of two long wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the stories and the service of these military families have often been overlooked. The program creates a series of intimate portraits – following families through the difficulties of deployment, the joys of homecoming, and the challenges of reintegrating as a family after many months apart. This revealing documentary tells stories of pride and patriotism, sacrifice and resilience.

Americans are living longer than ever before, and soon older adults will outnumber the young. Today, family caregivers are providing 90 percent of parent care, in addition to balancing work and family, a job most cannot afford to do. This phenomenon is faced by millions of baby boomers who are approaching retirement themselves, and who are also grappling with the responsibilities of one or both of their parents’ care. The program explores the emotional, health and financial challenges that many caregivers face every day and offers some solutions and tips to help others embarking on this new future.

This film follows three homeless teens as they fight to stay in school, graduate, and build a future. Each of these smart, ambitious youths – Roque, Kasey, and Anthony – will surprise, inspire, and challenge audiences to rethink stereotypes of homelessness as they work to complete their education while facing the trauma of being alone and abandoned at an early age. While told through a personal perspective, their stories connect with larger issues of poverty, race, juvenile justice, immigration, foster care, and LGBTQ rights.

With unprecedented access into Chicago public schools, The Night Ministry “Crib” emergency youth shelter, and Teen Living Programs’ Belfort House, the documentary follows these kids as they move through the milestones of high school while navigating a landscape of couch hopping, emergency shelters, transitional homes, street families and a school system on the front lines of the homelessness crisis. It examines the struggles these youth face in obtaining a high school level education, and then follows them beyond graduation to focus on the crucial transition when the structure of school vanishes, and homeless youth often struggle to find the support and community they need to survive and be independent. The film is a powerful, original perspective on what it means to be young and homeless in America today, while building a future.